


Koi No Yokan

by Saibera



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: Adoptive Parent Will, Age Difference, Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, Dubious Consent, F/M, Gender or Sex Swap, Genderbending, Genderswap, Hannibal in Love, Hannibal is Not a Cannibal, Hannibal is a Tease, Manipulative Hannibal, Possessive Hannibal, Slow Burn, Someone Help Will Graham, Teen Hannibal, Underage Kissing, Will tries oh my god does she try
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-05
Updated: 2017-01-06
Packaged: 2018-09-15 00:13:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,703
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9211355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Saibera/pseuds/Saibera
Summary: A sense that future love is inevitable after a first meeting. Wilhelmina Graham goes to Lithuania and becomes the guardian of an enigmatic young man with a dark past.





	1. First Meeting

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first ever fanfiction so please try to be as forgiving as your heart will allow you to be. 
> 
> I apologize for the bastardization of Lithuanian history. I wanted the story to be set in a modern period so I took a few liberties. I was born in a country torn the fuck apart by the fall of the Soviet Union so I understand intimately how important that history is. Tagged dubious consent because Hannibal is still a teen. I imagine he's around 14 when Will decides to adopt him and he will later form a sort of obsessive relationship with her. He is going to try to pursue her but don't worry, it won't really be reciprocated while he's underage. I take consent very seriously and even though I think Hannibal at that age was probably eons older in maturity, nothing serious (sexually, at least) is going to happen. 
> 
> This is not beta read. If there are any errors (or anyone wants to be my beta omg pls idk what I'm doing), feel free to message me or let me know in the comments!

Barely twenty-something year old Wilhelmina Graham had a death wish. Her guilt and complete lack of self-preservation had led her to a place where everyone else was praying to leave. War-torn Lithuania wasn’t exactly the place Will had imagined when she planned to go back-packing through Europe with her dead father’s life insurance money but leave it to her to escalate things beyond repair. It was a bad idea, she had to admit.

Her father had died alone while she was out playing FBI and here she was, probably about to die in a country where no one knew who she was. It was symmetrical. Her design. What was left of her sanity was screaming at her to go but the other parts, the less sane ones, rejected any prospect of leaving. Everything was different here. How could she just go back to Virginia and just pretend everything was the same? People here weren’t so fucking materialistic, so vain or self-centered. They hardly had the privilege to think of anything but their own survival. She was used to picking up the feelings of megalomaniacs and narcissists —surrounded by them in college—looking down their noses at her while preparing to knock her down if she got in their way. Many of the Lithuanians she met here had lost more than a parent, more than their sanity. Their grief drowned her own.

It was selfish, monstrously selfish. The selfishness only added to her stifling guilt. Will knew that but she just couldn’t force herself to go. She had nothing to go back to now. She had seen more death here than she was prepared to. She wasn’t in a mind to go back to the FBI and see more.

The building shuddered from residual impact from a bomb detonated only a few miles away. She could hear the other tenets around her shout to each other in fear.

Will wasn’t scared. Even the most basic instinct of survival had fled from her. She laid her head down on the straw pillow and fell asleep.

 

*****

 

Dust permeated the air around her but her building was still miraculously standing. Will had wished so badly when she first arrived that she had something to offer, medical skills or even a better grasp of the language. All she had was her empathy and it was more of a detriment here than a useful ability. The family next door to her had lost both their sons. When the mother cried, Will cried with her. A wandering brother and sister, close to her in age, desperately searching for their family after being displaced in a bombing two weeks ago. They had stuck a photo of their parents in her face but she could only shake her head and offer them the soup she had made for dinner. There was so frustratingly little she could do.

Will got up from her small bed with a sigh. She pulled the moth-bitten curtains from her small window and saw a young man, covered in ashes, drawing on the sidewalk with a piece of coal. People walked around him, occasionally stepping on his work. He showed no reaction to this, focused entirely on his task. Will’s knees burned from exertion. She had been standing there for at least a few hours now, entranced by his quick hands extending expertly over the ground.

She gathered her day old bread into a scarf and ran outside.

 

*****

 

The boy was ragged. On closer inspection, Will wasn’t entirely sure if who she was looking at was actually real. The grey dust covered him from head to toe, making him appear otherworldly. A specter haunting her windowsill, drawing creatures into the concrete with blackened hands. His gaunt face, unfocused eyes and nearly meditative drawing motions were so striking that Will found it hard to breathe.

Etched on the sidewalk were a pair of swans, their elegant necks curving towards the other as they floated on a picturesque lake. Will could see every small painstakingly rendered detail in their feathers. Both swans had their wings retracted, just barely glancing the surface tension of the lake. The lake’s foliage was reflected in the waves, only hinting at the trees and grass around the water.

“Hello,” she finally murmured, turning her attention back to the young man. Slowly sitting down onto the ground next to him so as not to scare him away.

The boy froze for a moment but continued on.

“This is very beautiful work.”

He didn’t acknowledge her at all this time.

“I thought such beautiful art deserved a little payment…” she trailed off. “I brought you some bread and water. Not much, I know, but all I could find in short notice.”

He looked down at the nudged offering and looked back up at her. She lost her breath again.

“Do you speak English?” She asked.

He gave her a small nod that she nearly missed.

“I remember most of the faces around here but I haven’t seen you before. Did your family just come by this town? I can walk you to them when you’re done with your drawing. It’ll be dark soon and I’m sure they’re worried.” She was worried. War made people untrustworthy. It was stupid to trust a stranger that was asking too many questions but she wanted to help him.

Will could see him close up again. He hunched over slightly, reaching towards the water bottle. His wrists were so thin that she was scared they might snap if they tried to hold on to anything. He gulped down the water ravenously before turning back to regard her again.

“My family is dead,” He croaked. The strong accent wrapping around the foreign words with a voice Will imagined he barely used.

It wasn’t surprising, she had anticipated this answer or a similar one. It didn’t matter. She still had to restrain herself from crying.

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

His nearly skeletal hands picked up the bread. The black coal stained the dough as he sunk his fingers to grab a better hold of it. He took a small bite and put her offering back down onto the multi-colored scarf. He chewed slowly and resumed his task.

“My name is Wilhelmina but you can call me Will,” she smiled at him.

He mouthed out her name but kept drawing, silent as death.

“I don’t have any plans for today and I like to watch you draw. Do you mind if I stay?” She asked, smiling at him.

No response but she wasn’t going to leave him there alone.

Will stayed with him until the piece of coal in his hand was barely large enough to hold on to. It was twilight and the dark was quickly enveloping the both of them. He made a movement as to get up and she quickly placed her hand of his small, cold one. He tensed and she quickly retracted her hand. Will stood up slowly and the young man tracked her movements carefully.

She leaned down and extended her hand to him. She wouldn’t touch him again unless he was willing to grab her hand.

“Listen,” she began. “I have a small place, it isn’t much but there’s food and you can even take a bath if you’d like. I know you don’t know me, but I won’t hurt you. You can stay with me. I can take care of you.”

Will looked into his alarmingly reddish brown eyes pleadingly.

The young man turned back to the ground and carefully picked up her scarf and the nearly untouched loaf of bread. Her stomach turned for a second, sure he was getting ready to walk away from her until he addressed her.

“I will go with you,” he whispered, tucking the bread into his arm and pushing his other hand into her outstretched one.

She beamed at him.

“What’s your name?” She wondered, looking down where their hands met.

“My name is Hannibal.”


	2. Departure

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for all of the kind comments, kudos and bookmarks for the first chapter. I really should be writing a research proposal right now but here I am! Lmao. Again, none of this has been beta read. So if you find any errors, please let me know.

They had stayed together in her small rented room for about a week. Will had provided him with the best clothing she could find from the few stores that were still stocked. The mother next door had offered Will some of her sons’ clothing but Will couldn’t bare to accept them and declined as politely as she could without offending her. Will had also gotten Hannibal a few items to keep him busy while they were holed up in the room together. Art supplies were limited but paper and pencils were relatively easy to acquire. Hannibal barely spoke to her some days but every now and then, he would read her the dog-eared Lithuanian books she had bought him. He taught her more of the language in a few days than she had learned living there for nearly a month. In exchange, she would occasionally read to him from the books and papers she had packed from the United States. Will worried that the contents of her research weren’t appropriate to share with Hannibal but he was so insistent at times that it was hard to say no. He would lean forward on the small cot while she read, amber eyes opened wide and glued to her face as she described the usage of Raman Spectroscopy in blood stain analyses.

It was hard not to feel trapped in that tiny room. When Hannibal felt anxious, Will felt doubly so. She wanted nothing more than to take him literally anywhere else but there were few places they could go in the civilian sector and the war had only escalated in the areas around them. Many of the roads were unsafe now, surrounded by mortars and snipers. Will knew this wasn’t sustainable. She would have to leave soon and make some kind of arrangements for Hannibal.

“Is there anyone here that you would want to go to, Hannibal? A family member or family friend that cares for you? I could help you find them.”

Hannibal was using her makeshift desk, a pencil clutched in his hand, hovering over the piece of paper while he considered her question. He looked up at her for a moment but said nothing.

She waited.

“There was no one else…” his small voice trailed off for a moment as if mulling over how much he should tell her. “I was in an orphanage but I left.”

She hummed, grateful for an answer.

“I could take you anywhere you wanted, Hannibal. It would be somewhere safe.”

He looked up at her again and she could feel his despair for a brief moment but it dissipated quickly.

“Would you take me with you, then?” He asked calmly as if inquiring about the weather. His pencil made delicate, light strokes over the page.

“If that’s what you want,” she informed him gently.

He pushed himself from the desk, nearly slamming the pencil down over it before running straight into her. Thin arms wrapped around her waist fiercely, slowly loosening their grip as they held her.

“I want to stay with you.” He breathed into her shirt.

She smiled reassuringly and returned the tentative embrace.  

 

*****

 

In theory, it was a great idea. Will had finally found the motivation to leave a country she would almost certainly die in and she would save a talented young man with enormous potential from the same. Theoretically. What the hell was she going to do with Hannibal? She had no idea how to raise a child, more or less a teenager. Will was an only child and her mother’s abandonment when Will was younger had sabotaged any maternal feelings she may have developed during those sensitive years. Hannibal was too close to her age for that to matter anyways. Will trying to act like anyone’s mother was a laughable concept. She knew the chances of adoption for him in the United States were slim to none. People wanted to adopt babies just freshly ripped from someone else’s womb, not a young man who suffered from PTSD and likely a myriad of other issues Will had no knowledge of.

Will sat on the edge of the bathroom’s sink and scrubbed at her face while she considered their options. From the little she did know, she was certain that Hannibal wouldn’t let her cart him off to some other family anyways. He had gone through too much already and he _trusted_ her. She couldn’t do that to him. Will still had a sizeable fortune left from the life insurance money, not totally squandered by whatever the fuck she was doing gallivanting around in Europe. She could provide for him. Her small house in Wolf Trap was pretty isolated but there were a few high schools that were near enough. She could drive him to school and in just a few years or so, he would be able to drive himself. Will was already familiar with a few therapists and she could ask Alana for help and some recommendations. She had a guest bedroom full of garbage she could clear out. It wouldn’t be impossible. Hell, she could even get Hannibal his own apartment when he was older if he decided he’d prefer to live alone.

Will dried her face off and reached for her phone. She had made her decision. She scrolled through her contacts for a while until she found the number she had been desperately avoiding for some time.

It only rang two times.

“Will?” The brusque voice seemed surprised.

“Agent Crawford, I need a favor.”

“Goddamn it, Will,” Jack Crawford began exasperatedly. “Do you know how late it is over here? Where the hell are you? You don’t call or respond to any messages for weeks and the first thing you ask for is a favor? Are you alright?”

“I know. I’m sorry and I’m alright.”

The man on the other line sighed.

“What’s this favor you need?”

Will explained the situation. She was capable of flying herself out of the country without much of an issue, one of the many perks her American citizenship granted her. Hannibal, on the other hand, was a different story. Of course the FBI had no jurisdiction in Lithuania but Will knew Agent Crawford was connected enough to help her. He was surprisingly patient with her now, listening quietly to her story.

“If I help you with this, will you promise to get back to work? We need you here, Will.”

“I promise, Agent Crawford.” Will had expected this, knew that Agent Crawford wouldn’t give her anything without asking for something from her in return. Like making a deal with the devil, she thought dryly.

“Try to return in one piece, you hear me?”

“I hear you.”

Will held the phone up to her ear until the line went dead and let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding.

 

*****

 

Agent Crawford made good on his side of the deal and within just a few days’ time they were boarded on a private plane and on their way to Will’s home. Will could see Hannibal’s thoughts go a mile a minute as he stared in wonder at everything inside of the small plane. She was smiling so hard that it hurt. Will reached over him and buckled him into the seat.

“Have you ever been on a plane before?”

Hannibal shook his head, pale brown strands of hair falling into his eyes. She pushed the hair behind his ear fondly.

“It’ll be a long flight. I packed some books in case you get bored and there are snacks in the bag if you get hungry, too.”

Hannibal was still staring around the cramped compartment they were sitting in. Will was almost gleeful to share such a novel experience with him.

“Some people get sick the first time they fly,” she warned him. “You’ll tell me if you feel sick, right? There’s a bag here in case you do and a bathroom behind us.”

Hannibal nodded at her and she nodded back with a smile. That was about all of it, really. She couldn’t think of anything else she needed to tell him. A sudden thought crossed her mind and she turned to him abruptly.

“Do you like dogs?” She blurted out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can understand why some people have issues with fem!will. Really, I do. As a bisexual female, I appreciate the incredible queer representation Bryan Fuller has provided the LGBT+ community with the show. I think Hugh Dancy gives an absolutely AMAZING performance as Will Graham, too. The reason I chose fem!will for this fic is because I'm not a great writer and I'm really limited to my experiences. I feel like I could write f/f and f/m but any attempt I've made to write m/m is just pitiful, honestly. Fem!will also gives me a chance to explore some gender issues in this fic that would be inherently different if the character was male. I don't think I explained myself quite as well as I would have liked to there but I hope you guys can understand what I'm trying to say.

**Author's Note:**

> Again, this is my first ever fanfiction and I'm not really sure exactly what I'm doing so any kudos or comments are appreciated x10000000000000000000 and will only encourage me to keep writing this trashfic. I absolutely love the adoption AU (young!Hannibal is an absolutely endearing monster I bet) but there aren't enough fanfics out there for it and there aren't enough fanfics for fem!will either soooooo while I don't consider myself the best writer, I need to get this out of my system, my dudes.


End file.
